


Purring

by SoDoRoses (FairyChess)



Series: LAOFT Extras [95]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, M/M, a cat (and catgirl) attempt (unsuccessfully) to kill a squirrel, fluffy fluffy fluffy, its just stupid cute insanely soft schmoop tbh, like .2 seconds of angst thats more h/c right at the beginning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:54:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22817338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FairyChess/pseuds/SoDoRoses
Summary: Roman is a very tactile person.So is Dizzy, of course - which surprises people at first and then makes perfect sense.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Dizzy (Original Cat Character), Anxiety | Virgil/Creativity | Roman/Logic | Logan/Morality | Patton, Logic | Logan Sanders & Dizzy (Original Cat Character), Logic | Logan Sanders & Linda Sanders, Morality | Patton Sanders & Dizzy (Original Cat Characters)
Series: LAOFT Extras [95]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1365505
Comments: 33
Kudos: 489





	Purring

**Author's Note:**

> For the prompts:
> 
> "I have no idea if you’re still taking prompts but a while back you mentioned dizzy and Roman having a shared soul, do you think you could ever expand on that?" (from an anon)
> 
> and
> 
> "LAOFT prompt: Dizzy LOVING on all the boys, maybe with a little Linda thrown in?" (from @trivia-goddess)
> 
> And thank you to @trivia-goddess for beta reading, and the prompt! props to my most strident ally in the “indoor cats only” agenda lol

Eleven was about average. Older than May had been when she met Jax, but younger than Momma and Oma had been at thirteen and fourteen.

Abigail had been eleven, too. And _she’d_ known what Dusty was as soon as she’d laid eyes on her, but May apparently couldn’t get through even one kid without fucking up spectacularly, so Roman had no idea.

And of course Desdemona (May didn’t like to think about her name too hard, “ill-fated,” because yeah there was a chance it was an omen but it was just as likely to only be Roman’s childhood crush on the bard rearing its head yet again) was a cat, and ten pounds of sass in a five-pound body even when she wasn’t even close to talking yet. She’d taken to draping across the back of Roman’s neck when he read out loud on the couch, rubbing her face on the side of his head and grooming his hair, occasionally looking down at the book in his hands with what May could tell was just the barest stirrings of real curiosity.

Of course. Of course she was a cat.

May definitely hadn’t been expecting a bird, and she had to admit she was relieved it wasn’t any kind of rodent. She might not have been able to keep calm if he’d come home with a mouse. “Desdemona” was far enough from “Drusilla” that she could say it without flinching, and “Dizzy” _just_ far enough from “Dusty” to hear, though it did leave something of a metal taste in May’s mouth. Hopefully she’d get the hell over it.

Roman had gone to spend his morning with Virgil (May’s secrets just kept piling up, didn’t they?) and May took the opportunity to lock herself up in the shed with the cloak.

And she did mean _lock_ , because she was nothing if not paranoid, so – even though she’d never admit it under _any_ circumstances – she leapt about a foot in the air and shrieked like the damned when something furry brushed against her ankles because she thought was a possum or something.

“ _What_ in _the_ _hell_ -”

A petulant yowl came from the direction of the packed dirt floor, and then May had a lap full of cat.

She scowled, and Desdemona just blinked up at her with big amber eyes.

“How’d ya get in here, ya sneaky little shit?”

Another blink, and May sighed.

“My hands’re a bit full,” she said dryly, lifting up the silvery fabric, “Do ya mind?”

Desdemona tried to bat at the cloak, and May swatted lightly at her paws. The cat looked deeply offended for a moment, before she jumped up and settled around the back of May’s neck just like she always did Roman’s.

And then she started purring.

It was a little annoying. Loud, right in May’s ear, and a bit like one of them electric toothbrushes May despised, pressed right up against the back of her skull.

Desdemona rubbed her cheek against May’s, purring even louder.

Real annoying. Distracting, too, May needed to focus on the damn cloak.

Desdemona started grooming May’s hair.

May sighed.

“Furry little goblin,” she muttered.

May went back to weaving, and the cat stayed right where she was. And it wasn’t like it changed the long, long list of secrets May was keeping from her grandson, but somehow, she did feel just a bit better.

— 

Logan had heard Roman mention his cat a few times, but between the fact that Logan’s mother had been visibly anxious and poorly hiding it about Logan going over to Roman’s house for the first time – or, more accurately, him going to Ms. Gage’s house - and the wrought iron fence surrounding the entire lawn that had no hot pad or equivalent to allow him to touch the gate, Logan had admittedly… well, completely forgotten about it.

Until the two of them walked through the front door and Logan heard the faint, soft tapping of tiny feet on the floor, rapidly approaching.

Roman shut the door behind them and Logan stepped away from him quickly – the cat came into view, leaping into Roman arms. Catching it effortlessly, Roman leaned in to let it rub all over his face, beaming, and even with his anxiety over proximity to an animal Logan couldn’t help but find it sweet.

“Hello, Dizzy-cat!” said Roman cheerfully, “Do you wanna meet Logan? Time to meet the big nerd?”

“That is unnecessary,” said Logan, taking another step back and raising his hand.

“Don’t be silly,” scoffed Roman, “You have to meet _Dizzy_ , she’s my best friend,”

The corner of Logan’s mouth twitched.

“As endearing as that is,” he said, “I’m expressing an impossibility. Animals are not fond of my presence. I don’t want to distress her,”

Roman frowned.

“Cats are _especially_ upset by me,” said Logan, trying not to sound too bitter, “As a species they aren’t fond of Fair Folk at all. It was actually… decidedly foolish of me to forget,”

Frown deepening, Roman shook his head.

“No, I-”

He sighed.

“Dizzy _doesn’t_ like Good Neighbors,” he said, though he seemed genuinely unhappy about the statement, “I didn’t really think it through either. I’ll put her outside,”

Logan made a scandalized noise.

“You shouldn’t put her _outside,_ ” he said firmly.

Roman looked bewildered.

“She’ll be fine, she’s smart,”

“Cats are an invasive species,” Logan replied, “They decimate local wildlife populations, especially native songbirds,”

“Okay, okay, I won’t put her outside,” said Roman, laughing, “I’ll just-”

He crossed the living room, moving toward the hall. Logan followed, several feet behind, trying not to squirm at the intent yellow gaze looking at him from over Roman’s shoulder.

“In you go, Dizzy,”

Roman let the cat drop from his arms into what must be his bedroom, and then shut the door. The cat let out a plaintive, muffled meow through it, and Roman rolled his eyes.

“Whiner,” he called, as if the cat could possibly understand him.

“So,” Roman continued, “English?”

They spent the next hour working through their partnered project. Logan would have considered trying to hide how… indescribably excited he was to have a project partner who didn’t behave as though they were being held at gunpoint at the prospect of working with him, but Roman seemed equally delighted by the situation, so he didn’t bother.

Ms. Gage greeted them politely on her way through, and Logan faintly registered the sound of her opening the hall closet and then moving further away, presumably toward her own bedroom.

Except it must not have been the hall closet, because after about a minute there was a soft weight on his shoulder, and the sensation of fur on his skin.

Freezing, Logan made a low, panicked noise in the back of his throat. He waited for the sharp slash of claws, knowing he couldn’t very well _hurt_ Roman’s cat in an attempt to defend himself – and even if he _could_ he wouldn’t, because she was only an animal and it wasn’t her fault she had an instinctive reaction to a dangerous apex predator-

She was very soft, Logan realized. And she wasn’t- she wasn’t clawing, she just had her paws set on his shoulder.

Roman was looking, wary, between Logan’s face and presumably the cat’s. Logan’s breath was slightly unsteady.

“Dizzy, get down,” said Roman firmly.

Dizzy did not get down.

Dizzy shifted her weight on Logan’s shoulder and started rubbing her whiskery face on his cheek.

Shifting hesitantly, Logan flinched when Dizzy stumbled, but she _still_ didn’t attack him. She laid across the back of the couch and nuzzled, purring, into his neck.

She was very warm, and – and soft, too, was it normal for a cat to be so soft? Logan didn’t know. The only parts of a cat he’d ever come in contact with were the _sharp_ ones, he’d never-

“…Logan?” said Roman softly.

Logan looked over at Roman, lost, and when he blinked he realized he’d started crying.

“Dizzy, get _down,_ ” Roman repeated, sharper, looking more distressed by the minute.

“ _No,_ ” Logan blurted, but Dizzy was already hopping down-

-Into Logan’s lap, where she curled up, still purring.

“She-”

“Specs, are you okay?”

“She _likes_ me?” said Logan, wet and incredulous.

Roman smiled, though he looked oddly sad.

“Of course she likes you,” he laughed, “She’s a smart cat,”

He didn’t comment on Logan’s tears, which Logan was grateful for. He was beginning to feel rather ridiculous, but he couldn’t seem to stop.

Touching her felt like it would be pushing it, but he couldn’t help that either – his hand moving seemingly of its own accord, his fingers burrowed into the short, thick fur at her shoulders. She flopped over in his lap, and Logan let out an incomprehensible noise of joy.

“How…”

Logan trailed off.

“How what?” asked Roman.

“How do- how do I pet her?”

“Well, you’re already doing a pretty good job,” said Roman, amused even as he scooted toward Logan on the couch, “She likes her shoulders. But also her face, like this,”

He scratched under her chin.

Logan hesitated for a moment, because that was rather close to one of those _sharp_ parts, but he steeled his nerves and moved to scratch her cheek gently.

Dizzy’s purrs resembled nothing so much as a lawnmower engine. She was just- she was just a little ball of purrs, and Logan had absolutely no idea what made _this_ the one animal on the planet that wasn’t absolutely petrified of him but he also didn’t remotely care.

“I like your cat,” Logan laughed, his voice thick.

“She likes you, too,” said Roman in a slightly obnoxious baby voice, “Dizzy-cat is a very good judge of character. _Dizzy-cat, Dizzy-cat, likes to have her chinny scratched,_ ”

Logan burst into laughter, and Dizzy cast Roman a clearly unimpressed look but didn’t stop purring for even a moment.

They did eventually get back to the English homework, but only after a solid ten minutes of cuddling the cat.

And even when they did return to what they were supposed to be doing, Dizzy never moved, a warm, solid weight in Logan’s lap.

— 

Patton was gonna snuggle Roman’s cat if it killed him.

Okay. _Really_ bad phrasing, even for just in his own head.

But touching Roman’s cat wouldn’t _actually_ kill him. If he took Benadryl beforehand it wouldn’t even give him hives!

Probably. Maybe. Well, it probably _would,_ honestly, but they would be- they would be _manageable hives,_ little ones, and it wasn’t like Patton, who’d been allergic to basically the whole outdoors his whole gosh darn life didn’t go anywhere without an inhaler, so- so it’d be fine.

Roman did not agree with- well, basically any of that.

He hovered anytime Patton came over, watching him like a hawk and picking up a sputtering, irate Dizzy every time she so much as got close. Patton always let out a wistful sigh as Roman carried the cat away, and he could have sworn Dizzy always gave him one right back over Roman’s shoulder.

She just wanted _cuddles!_ And gosh darn it Patton was _going_ to cuddle that cat.

Patton could practically hear the mission impossible theme as he shut the door of the bathroom firmly and then pushed against the opposite wall, out of sight. Roman’s bedroom door, where Dizzy was shut in, was on this wall too, and all Patton had to do was get close enough to open it and be _quiet_ so Roman and Logan in the front room didn’t hear.

Was it a little excessive to sneak around his friends house to pet one solitary kitty-cat? Yes.

Did Patton care? Not even a little.

Patton turned the knob of Roman’s bedroom door slowly to keep it from clicking, pushing it open quietly.

The dark, furry body darted out of the door, and Patton waved his index fingers furiously to get Dizzy’s attention before she ran into the living room and gave them away. Blinking up at him, she tilted her little head and watched him intently as he pressed his finger to his lips.

He sat, and Dizzy crawled into his lap immediately – Patton barely kept from squealing, scritching her shoulders and her soft furry head and squeezing her _purr-fect_ little toe beans and _gosh_ she was just the _cutest kitty in the whole gosh darn world._

Dizzy meowed and Patton made another insistent shushing motion, shaking his head. Dizzy seemed startled by the sudden motion, but she did go quiet.

She braced her front paws on Patton’s chest and craned her neck up, sniffing curiously at his face. Patton just beamed at her, wiggling happily with contained giggles when she started to rub her cheek on his nose.

Gathering her up in his arms, Patton did just about the dumbest thing possible which was rub _his_ whole face in her fur, but again – he _really_ didn’t care.

Patton was so distracted by Oh-My-Goodness-Kitty-Cat that he forgot Roman and Logan were under the impression he was in the bathroom, and didn’t realize just how long he’d been sitting here.

Oops.

“ _Patton!”_

Logan’s sharp voice made Patton jump, and he blinked up at the two of them in the entrance to the hall for a moment before he gave them a sheepish smile.

“Sorry?”

“Dizzy, you horrible little gremlin,” Roman muttered, ignoring her plaintive meow as he plucked her out of Patton’s lap.

“Naughty cat!” he scolded.

“No, don’t be mean!” whined Patton.

“Pat,” said Roman, exhausted, “How long have you been over here, you’re gonna be popping Benadryl from a Pez dispenser,”

“Not-”

He paused.

“Well- actually a while,” he said faintly.

“ _Patton,_ ”

“No, no, I-”

Patton looked down at his hands, slowly taking inventory.

“I’ve been cuddling Dizzy for a _while,_ ” he repeated incredulously.

“… We heard you the first time?”

“But- do I _look_ like I have?” said Patton, holding out his arms to reveal the unblemished skin.

Gently taking Patton’s wrist, Logan turned his hand over and then back.

“You have no rash,” he said.

“And- you can breathe?” said Roman, baffled.

“I feel fine!” said Patton, practically vibrating in excitement for several seconds before he fairly launched up off the floor.

“Are you hypogenic?” he squealed at Dizzy, rubbing her face between his hands and bumping her nose with his own. She immediately started purring, and Patton’s heart melted all over again.

“Hypoallergenic,” Logan corrected softly, and when Patton glanced over he was wearing a small smile that made Patton’s heart give a funny little flip.

“Hippocratic?”

“Getting further away,”

“How about, ‘proof that Dizzy is the bestest, most wonderful cat in the whole wide world?’” Patton crooned, giggling when Dizzy purred so loud Patton felt like he was holding a tiny adorable chainsaw.

“She’s gonna get a big head if you keep complimenting her,” said Roman dryly.

“Is it possible for any pet of yours _not_ to inherit a big head?”

“Well the chickens are Mamaw’s, but they certainly- hey, wait a second!”

Scooping Dizzy right out of Roman’s arms – Roman gave Patton a slightly anxious look but let him go – Patton brought her into the living room and laid flat on the rug, giggling hysterically when Dizzy draped herself across his chest.

“This is the best day of my life,” he said, grinning.

Roman cackled, and Logan rolled his eyes fondly, shaking his head down at them.

“You are ridiculous,”

“I’m cuddling a _cat_ , your argument is invalid,”

“That doesn’t even make _sense-”_

Sighing happily, Patton let Logan’s voice wash over him and buried his fingers in Dizzy’s fur.

He had the best friends in the world – of course Roman had the best cat, too.

— 

Dizzy seemed to regard Virgil as something of a combination taxi service and climbing post.

The number of times he’d been walking through the forest, minding his own business, only to be dive-bombed by eight pounds of tortoiseshell fur and purrs from somewhere in the treetops was nearly innumerable.

“Did you want something?” he said dryly. Dizzy, who had in fact just alighted on his shoulders after jumping out of a tree, settled across them like a scarf and batted at his hair.

“Okay, no,” he said, reaching up and pulling her into his arms instead, “I don’t care how good your balance is, fuzzbrains, you’re not staying there,”

Dizzy seemed fine with this, getting comfortable in his arms as Virgil made his way back to Roman’s house.

Virgil didn’t like to bring Logan and Patton with him on his excursions in the deeper, darker parts of the forest to check up on as much of his mother as he could. He didn’t like to bring Roman either, to be honest – far too many dangerous things, in Virgil’s opinion - but Roman put up significantly more fuss about being left behind, so he usually did come.

Except today, when he’d spent the whole morning squinting and flinching against the light, avoiding their questions about it until a yowling Dizzy – who had apparently been lecturing Roman about it – had forced him to admit he had an absolutely splitting headache.

So Virgil had gone alone, today. He’d missed the company far more than he was willing to admit, but the last thing he wanted to do was bring Roman out into the sunlight like that.

Dizzy meowed, loud and irate. Virgil glanced down at her.

“What?”

She wrinkled her nose, shoving her head into Virgil’s hand.

Chuckling, he gave her a few soft scratches.

“Am I not paying enough attention to you?” he said softly.

Another meow, which Virgil was nearly certain was a confirmation.

“Good kitty,” he murmured, almost involuntarily, “So pretty. You and Roman have that in common, you know,”

That got him an eye roll.

“What?” he said, fond, “He is pretty, you can’t argue that,”

He considered.

“Or maybe you can, you are a cat. Roman tells me you used to have a crush on Thomas O'Malley, so I guess we have different beauty standards,”

Yowling indignantly, Dizzy tried leap down and Virgil ignored the attempt, squeezing her close.

“As cats go, he’s handsome enough,” he laughed, and then laughed even harder at the death glare it got him.

Arguing with Dizzy was easy, in spite of the fact that Virgil couldn’t hear her words, and it only made him miss Ritter a little – little enough to ignore.

He finally let her to the ground when they reached the house, following her form up the steps and keeping quiet as he entered the dark living room.

Logan was half-laying sideways on the couch, his back against the arm, Roman draped across his lap with his head pressed to Logan’s stomach. Logan was rubbing tiny circles in his temples while Patton sat on the floor, humming a slow, almost mournful tune that was making even Virgil’s eyes droop just a little.

“Hey,” Virgil murmured.

“He’s asleep,” Logan said softly, “How did it go?”

“Well,” Virgil replied, “She’s stronger all the time,”

Patton beamed.

“Good,” he said, enthusiastic if quite a bit more quiet than he normally would have, “I’m glad she’s feeling better,”

Roman made a muffled, slightly annoyed noise, and all of them fell guiltily silent. He seemed to settle, and Virgil’s shoulders relaxed.

And then Dizzy leapt from the back of the couch directly onto Roman’s back, and he woke with a startled shout.

“ _Dizzy!”_ hissed Logan.

“I’m up, I’m _up,_ y’furball, watch the damn claws,” Roman grumbled, his voice a sleepy drawl.

He rolled over onto his back, his head still pillowed on Logan’s belly, blinking rapidly.

“Do you feel any better?” said Logan, frowning over at Dizzy.

Roman’s brow furrowed, silent.

“… Roman?”

“… Cats,” Roman muttered, tilting his head, “And- something-”

He looked over at Virgil, a quizzical smile on his face.

“Were you picking on Dizzy about her favorite Disney prince?”

Dizzy _hissed_ , and Roman burst into laughter.

Virgil’s mouth pulled up into a wide smile.

“Oh, you _deserve_ it, you pined over that tomcat like a swooning Jane Austen character-”

“How did you know if she didn’t tell you?” said Patton curiously.

“Oh, it happens sometimes if I’m asleep and she’s awake,” said Roman, “Which hardly ever happens, because she’s a great lazy layabout,”

Dizzy batted his hand, irate. Virgil made his way to the couch, lifting up Roman’s legs and sitting with them in his lap. Patton hooked one hand around Virgil’s ankle.

“We could practice and get better at it, but like I said, she sleeps like fifteen hours a day,” Roman continued, as he and Dizzy began to play what looked like keep-away with her tail, “Mamaw’s great at it, of course, because Jax is a nosy spying pigeon,”

“But what _is_ it, some sort of… mind-reading?” prompted Logan.

Roman’s head moved awkwardly, not quite a shake or a nod.

“Sort of,” he said, “Mamaw says it’s just like she… hitches a ride in Jax’s head for a little while, but they can’t talk that way, she can only see and hear. For me it’s more like… overhearing a conversation in another room. Sometimes pictures. Like I said, I’m not very good at it,”

He smiled up at Virgil.

“You know,” he laughed, soft, “Dizzy can’t really see shades of red, it makes your eyes look blue,”

Virgil’s heart clenched a little in his chest. It wasn’t enough to make him lose the smile, but something must have shown on his face, because Roman’s own fell a little.

“Yeah, I know,” said Virgil quietly, running his thumb back and forth on Roman’s ankle and reaching his other hand to scratch Dizzy’s neck gently.

“… You do?”

Virgil smiled sadly.

“Mhm,” he hummed, “Dogs can’t see red either,”

Roman just barely winced.

“Sorry,” he said, looking obviously guilty.

Virgil shook his head, still smiling.

“Don’t be,” he said, “You didn’t do anything wrong,”

Dizzy turned away, looking at Roman, and both of them tilted their heads at precisely the same angle.

Roman smiled.

“What did she say?”

“I- it’s silly,” murmured Roman.

Dizzy made an indignant noise, picking her way from Roman to Virgil.

“Well, now you gotta share,” said Patton.

Shaking his head, Roman gave Dizzy a fond look as she started purring, perched atop Roman’s legs.

“When she was-”

Roman made a vague motion with his hand.

“Sort of halfway between a cat and a familiar,” said Roman, “She got it in her head she was going to climb the sky,”

Patton giggled, and Logan’s mouth curled too, even as he shook his head.

“Nonsensical, of course,”

Dizzy’s face appeared right next to Virgil’s, startling him, and she leaned into to sniff at his face. Coughing, Roman flushed.

“What?” said Virgil.

Roman laced their fingers at his hip.

“She said, and I quote,” said Roman, pink and grinning, “‘Tell your spooky boyfriend he didn’t have to bring it to me,’”

“Awww!” exclaimed Patton, and Logan made a muffled noise that was probably a swallowed giggle. Virgil’s own face flushed with heat, sputtering.

Dizzy rubbed her face on his warming cheek, and Virgil couldn’t resist dropping a kiss on top of her tiny head – which made Patton coo all over again, Logan mutter something about being “too precious,” and Roman absolutely _beam._

Dizzy curled up against Virgil’s stomach, still purring, and between her and Roman’s legs, Virgil figured he was not moving for a while.

— 

_Pay-attention-look-this-way!_

Linda looked up from her coloring book.

_Here-I-am-grown-up!_

“Does Dizzy need something, sweetheart?” asked Papa, turning his head up from the flower bed to look at both of them.

“I dunno!” said Linda, sitting up, “She hasn’t said yet,”

Aunt Dizzy’s tailed waved, another _Look-this-way,_ and Linda’s eyes tracked the movement through the air.

_Ready?_

Linda didn’t really know what she was supposed to be ready for, but she chirped back cheerfully, crouching, because if Aunt Dizzy was telling her to get ready it was usually because they were about to do fun cat stuff.

“… Linny?”

“We’re getting ready!” said Linda brightly.

Papa stood suddenly.

“Desdemona, what are you-”

Aunt Dizzy lifted her paw.

Linda dove for the blur of black and brown, her hands curled into claws – she just barely missed, landing awkwardly in one of the empty flower beds. She dived again, chattering in frustration, but then she was being lifted up off the ground.

Aunt Dizzy made several grumbles, and Papa looked down at her, frowning.

“Did you _seriously_ just try to goad Linny into killing a squirrel?”

_You-are-frustrating, give-me-that, kitten-come-here._

“We were playing hunting!” said Linda, “I think I lost,”

Papa gave her a flat look.

“… You seemed to perform admirably for a first attempt,” he said, “However, I do not believe chasing or consuming wild animals is a very good idea,”

He scowled down.

“And Aunt _Dizzy_ knows she is _not_ supposed to be impacting the local wildlife populations. Don’t you Desdemona?”

_You-are-very-frustrating, Favorite-Seelie! Kitten-come-here._

Linda squirmed, and Papa just hitched her up higher on his hip.

“Nope,” he said, popping the ‘p’ like Daddy always did and smiling when it made Linda giggle, “You managed to get very dirty, very quickly in your little tumble, you are covered in mulch. Bath time,”

“Bath time!” cheered Linda.

_Do-not-like, no!_

_Me, not you!_

“Not _you,_ Dizzy,” Papa agreed, though he obviously hadn’t got exactly what Linda and Aunt Dizzy were saying, “Unless _you_ are going to roll around in the mulch, in which case I will be happy to break out the flea shampoo,”

Aunt Dizzy made a very offended noise.

Shaking his head, Papa carried Linda inside, and after a bath that ended with him and Aunt Dizzy getting nearly as wet as Linda did he put her in new jeans and a t-shirt.

Frowning at her curls, he tutted his tongue.

“I’m afraid I am mostly lost as to how to do your hair, Linny,” he admitted, “Would you like me to call for Vati so he can braid it for you?”

Linda pouted.

“No, I want _you_ t’do my hair,” she said.

He sighed a little, but he smiled.

“Alright,” he laughed, “I make no promises as to its elegance, but I will do my best,”

“What’s elephant’s gotta do with my hair?” said Linda, confused.

Papa choked on a laugh, which made Linda grin. He scooped her up off the bathroom floor as he went through the drawers for the de-tangling spray and the comb, before carrying her into her fathers’ room, where the vanity mirror was a lot bigger.

“ _Elegance,_ ” he said, and Linda heard it was not quite the word “elephants” this time, and also that was Papa’s teacher-voice – it sounded a lot like Mamaw’s teacher-voice, and was much calmer than Pop’s.

“It means beauty,” Papa continued, sitting her on the chair and starting to gently comb out the wet tangles, “But specifically a kind of beauty that is neat or graceful, or stylish. I was saying that the end result may be messy,”

“I like messy things!”

“I’m aware,” he laughed.

Aunt Dizzy came through the open bedroom door, her tail flicking _suspicious-and-watching,_ and Linda turned to tell her _Hello_ and _blow_ _kiss._

Aunt Dizzy _blew kiss_ back, and settled across Linda’s feet. Linda stopped swinging them to let her, and tried very hard to only wiggle with her top half when Aunt Dizzy started _happy-content-love-you-very-much_ purring.

Papa was very gentle, and even though he used maybe a little bit too much spray (Linda got a feeling her hair was gonna dry kinda crunchy), he did get her hair smoothed out and tied into two slightly crooked braids.

“There,” he said, “All done,”

“Is not!” said Linda, offended.

“Oh?” said Papa, curiously.

“C’mere,”

Papa leaned down, and Linda kissed him on the cheek.

“Thank you for doing my hair!” she said, “Okay, now we’re done,”

Papa grinned at her, sunshine coming off his hair, and Linda bounced happily at making _him_ so happy, and the sunshine got brighter.

“Are we gonna go do more things in the garden?” she asked.

“Actually, I should start lunch, if we want it to be ready at exactly one-thirty pm,”

Linda nodded vehemently.

“Would you like to help?”

She almost nodded again, but then Aunt Dizzy moved a little on Linda’s feet, and one of her purrs skipped.

“Act-u-ally,” she said, “Can I play more with Aunt Dizzy?”

“Of course,”

Leaning over Linda’s shoulder, he looked down at Aunt Dizzy on the floor.

“As long as Aunt Dizzy agrees to use the designated stim toys, and _not_ set any prey animals lose in the living room,”

_You-are-frustrating._

“Dizzy,” he warned.

Aunt Dizzy hopped to her feet.

_Agreeing-but-annoyed-about-it, move-please, kitten-come-here._

“She says okay!” translated Linda, “But, y’know. In a grumpy way,”

“Of course,” said Papa, rolling his eyes, “I’d expect nothing less,”

Linda and Aunt Dizzy spent the rest of the afternoon chasing various windup (and sometimes enchanted) toys around the living room, which, un-for-tun-ate-ly, ended up with Linda sorta… knocking over a lamp with a _very_ big noise. Both Papa and Mamaw came out of the kitchen and her bedroom, crossing their arms.

“Oops?” said Linda, holding up her hands. Aunt Dizzy just sat with her head perked up and a very smug look.

Papa sighed fondly.

“You are a terrible influence, Desdemona,”

Aunt Dizzy just purred at him, _smug-love-you-very-much,_ and then jumped up into Linda’s arms and kept right on going.

**Author's Note:**

> you can also find me on tumblr at [@tulipscomeinallsortsofcolors](tulipscomeinallsortsofcolors.tumblr.com)


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